


Where Innocence Heals

by Bravediamond7330



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 10:04:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8574067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bravediamond7330/pseuds/Bravediamond7330
Summary: As her face tilted far back to look into mine, I held an unnecessary breath and waited for the scream I knew would come. She had started at my feet, where stone and metal twisted and melded together form the gruesome appendages. Her curly head did not even reach my knees and that alone should have frightened her, but she continued upwards to the leather and cloth coverings my creator had given me long ago for modesty’s sake. Upwards still her eyes rose to take in my narrow waist and broad chest. Her eyes took in my bulky arms designed for destruction, but only ever used in self defense. Finally she landed on my eyes, dark voids that sat deep in my face and revealed more than the rest of my rock frame just how monstrous I was.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there, Reader.  
> I'm new to posting here and experimenting with a non-human character. Mind critiquing my work , please?
> 
> Thanks for reading!

The quaint, little house stood bold and red before me. From my vantage point behind the tree line of the backyard, I watched the wind push a lonely child on the swingset that I knew her father had built for her. I watched as the invisible fingers played with her curly hair. If I recalled correctly, the humans referred to that brown color as brunette. I watched as the cool air caused the gold and rust-dusted leaves to dance, and painted her cherubic cheeks the most charming shade of pink. I watched as a particularly strong gust forced her tiny hands to clutch tightly to the rope that moved her back and forth. Finally, I watched her little chest rise with an intake of breath that usually signalled surprise in most humans. In this instance, as I let my eyes meet hers, I knew her gasp had been from her tiny frame being gripped with fear. I, the monster, had found her.

“Don’t run,” I spoke, my voice sounding coarse as gravel to even my own ears, misuse seemingly turning my vocal chords to dust. “Please.”  
Her little feet landed on the soft, dying earth with a tiny thump, and she took the tiniest step toward me. Her willingness to approach me rooted me to the ground next to the tree I had been using as a hiding place. I could not taint her with what I am. Her innocence was too much.

Then she spoke in a voice that chased the chill from the little bubble of silence which had inadvertently formed around us. “What’s your name? My name is Tabitha.”  
The calm with which she had spoken startled me. It had been many years since any human being had addressed me with anything less than a scream. 

“You can call me Tabby, if you want.” Then she smiled, and no sunrise that I had seen in all my years on this earth could have prepared me for the light I saw in her eyes, colored as golden as the brightest of those sunrises.

It was then that I moved forward. Years of running and hiding had forced my once heavy footfalls into silence. Finally, I left the shelter of the trees to tower over this child. She couldn’t have been any older than five years, but her bravery was astounding. 

As her face tilted far back to look into mine, I held an unnecessary breath and waited for the scream I knew would come. She had started at my feet, where stone and metal twisted and melded together form the gruesome appendages. Her curly head did not even reach my knees and that alone should have frightened her, but she continued upwards to the leather and cloth coverings my creator had given me long ago for modesty’s sake. Upwards still her eyes rose to take in my narrow waist and broad chest. Her eyes took in my bulky arms designed for destruction, but only ever used in self defense. Finally she landed on my eyes, dark voids that sat deep in my face and revealed more than the rest of my rock frame just how monstrous I was.

Still, she did not scream. I found myself kneeling in the dirt before her so she would not have to strain to see me, and spoke softly so as not to startle her.  
“I am Flint.”

She seemed to smile wider at that and lifted her little hand to me. For a moment, I could not understand what it was she intended.  
“You hold it and then shake. Here, like this.”

I watched in horror as she reached up her tiny hand to meet my larger, stony hand. I couldn’t resist the urge to pull it just out of her reach. I would not taint her with my beastliness.  
“Don’t,” I whispered in a tone I was unused to hearing, “I may hurt you.”

“No, you won’t, Mr. Flint. I know you won’t.” She smiled at me, then. It was the tiniest lift at the corners of her rosy lips, but the faith that shone through spoke louder than anything she’d said to me thus far. How could one so small and fragile stand fearlessly in the presence of one like me?

“Can I touch your hand, Mr. Flint?” Her request, though voiced softly, was backed with steel and the force of her gentle golden stare had me sag in disbelief before her. Even on my knees, I towered several feet about her and had to hunch over further to see her face properly.  
Her smile widened, and I couldn’t deny her request a second time. Slowly, I nodded with my eyes on hers and hoped beyond all hope that she wouldn’t be repulsed by my cold, inhuman hand. I raised my hand at a snail’s pace, careful not to move too suddenly, so as not to scare her, and let the mangled mass of stone and metal hover in the air between us.

The child’s eyes widened slightly at the gesture, almost as if she were shocked that I’d complied. Then she raised her hand as well, daintily but more strength than I felt I could ever possess and placed it right in the center of my own. Then, I waited. I closed my eyes, the black, expressionless holes that they were and waited. I let the warmth, near searing the very spot that she touched, soothe my mind and calm me. Foolish as I knew it was to let my guard down, in what I hoped to be a soul, I let her take my fears away. I relinquished the loneliness and the sorrow and so many years without kindness, without companionship.   
For what felt like eternity, but may have only been a quick moment in time, I remained unmoving; absorbing the wonderful gift I’d been given.

“Mr. Flint?” I heard the tiny voice call out, and I opened my eyes once more to find her smiling up at me. “You’re smiling, Mr. Flint.”  
It took more than a second to register that this child, Tabitha, was correct. I could see it reflected in her eyes. I was smiling, and it felt so good to smile after being so long without a reason to do so.

“Will you be my friend, Mr. Flint?” There were no words to express my joy at that moment. She moved closer to me then, gazing up with only warmth in her spirit and I smile that I knew was just for me. Her hand left mine, and for a moment there was no substance on earth colder than my being. My disappointment lasted only a moment before she climbed into my leather clad lap, wrapped her arms around my stony waist, and looked up at me.  
The trust she had continued to astound me, and as she warmed me in a way that no sun ever had, I found myself carefully raising my arms to cradle her gently to my chest.

“Yes, Tabitha,” I replied softly, so as not to shatter the delicate moment this child had created. “I will be your friend.”


End file.
